This invention relates generally to gas and liquid contact apparatus and methods, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for removing oxygen-containing air from water. The apparatus with which the present invention is concerned is a deoxygenating column which may form part of a system used for the production of beverages, such as soft drinks and beer.
The present invention relates to improvements on the methods and apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. to Skoli et al No. 4,216,711 granted Aug. 12, 1980. In that patent it is pointed out that beer concentrate or heavy beer may be combined with deoxygenated water to form an end product known as bright beer. The deoxygenation of the water is required because of the presence of even a fraction of part air in one million parts water can result in an unacceptable end product. Accordingly, there is disclosed in said patent a system which will combine beer concentrate or heavy beer with deoxygenated water on a continuous basis to form a bright beer for storage, filling or later operations. The system includes one or more deoxygenating columns in which the water is introduced through the top and falls downwardly through the column to an exhaust pump module. Carbon dioxide gas is introduced through a metering device and flows upwardly in a serpentine fashion to provide an effective counterflow arrangement that results in a highly effective removal of the air and oxygen from the water and replacement by carbon dioxide gas.